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If you went to school, earned a bachelors or master’s degree, yet were being turned down for jobs you are qualified for because of the way you look or talk, how would you feel? How would you feel if this was happening to your spouse or your children?

In this photo taken on Tuesday, March 27, 2018, Pakistan's first transgender newscaster Marvia Malik poses for a photo in a control room of a local television channel in Lahore, Pakistan. Malik has made history in Pakistan by becoming the first transgender newscaster in a conservative Muslim country where her community is taunted in public, ostracized by family and targeted in violent attacks. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Thus, in the next 10 years, there won’t be enough financial planners to meet demand.

You may see where this is headed, we need more trans people in financial planning. For this match to work requires hard work and boldness. The hard work will be on the part of recruiters and hiring managers to bravely stand by their choice to hire transgender people if discrimination rears its ugly head. It’ll require boldness on the part of those in the transgender community who may feel unwanted in a straight white male-dominated industry.

Diversity and inclusion are buzz words in the halls of corporate America today. Many financial services firms such as MassMutual, Prudential, Capital One, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo are leading the way by not just being inclusive with corporate policy, but also on social media and national advertising.

Many others in the financial services that are less bold have business resource or affinity groups that includes an LGBT group, but most of their efforts remain behind closed doors. So, let’s help them prove their inclusiveness. These companies have job opportunities and the data suggests that they’ll need to backfill for thousands of those positions. Then, these companies should look to the transgender community.

The time is now for trans leaders

We need transgender leaders in financial services. Trans people have the opportunity to lead the way for our brothers and sisters.

Katherine Hoffman of Equality Mortgage transitioned while working at a mortgage broker. Although she lived in a city and state with trans protections, she advises, “generally speaking, most people will be supportive, and some will actually surprise you. Although, some will let you down. Most importantly, you will find yourself in the process.” She admits, “you will have achievements, triumph and, yes, heartbreak. But, this too shall pass.”

Katherine advises any transgender person looking to financial services as a career choice to “Just do it. There is so much opportunity and there is no reason but your own fear keeping you from pursuing your dreams.”

Here are three ways trans people can find those opportunities in financial services.

1. Seek out other transgender financial advisors on Facebook and LinkedIn

Find a mentor. This will be invaluable to you, as these individuals have created a path to follow. It’s also likely that they’re working for a supportive employer. That can work to your advantage.

Here are two groups that may help: LGBT Professionals on Facebook and OutBuro on Linkedin. In fact, Outburo.com has a listing of companies that offer both sexual orientation and gender identity protections, which makes it a great place to start a search.

2. Seek out other LGBTQ family who work in financial services

There are thousands of us who work or have worked in financial services. We’ll be your advocates and champions. Call on us but be ready to take suggestions and impress with your skills. Work with someone to create a plan to prepare and get the job.

If you need new skills, there are plenty of resources. For example, there are financial planning colleges, such as the University of Akron that are looking for all types of candidates. Another resource is the College of Financial Planning, which sponsors the Certified Financial Planning (CFP) designation.

3. Champion your skills and talents over everything

In our interview with Tim Gill on Queer Money™, Gill said he never made an issue of the fact that he was a gay man starting a business in the 80s. He focused on providing a good product for his customers. The same is true for the rest of us. You have skills. Highlight and champion them. Your skills, above all else, are what companies and prospects want. Prove your worth and the rest becomes secondary.

Although transgender households are more likely to be low income, we can change that. There are thousands of job opportunities for transgender people, especially with companies in financial services that want talented candidates, including LGBTQ individuals.

As Dominic Barton of McKinsey & Company said, “We have a mission statement with two equal parts. The first is to have a lasting impact on our clients and the second is to attract and retain the best talent. We can’t do either if we aren’t attracting a broad set of the best available talent. Therefore, we need LGBTQ people.”

After living fabulously the wrong way and accumulating $51,000 in credit card debt, we learned how to be even more fabulous and debt free. Now, we use our personal experience and nearly 30-years of combined financial services experience to talk about the unique financial ne...